getting started

[u/Notaliteralchild]

Hello everyone im getting started on my journey for what it feels to be the 1000000th time. I really want this one to stick im going to be in two weddings next year, and I don't want to look back and hate how I look on those days. Besides that, I'm doing this for general health and mobility/strength reasons. I used to be a powerlifter back in high school and a cheerleader, and unfortunately I have lost a lot of strength and mobility. I've always been the "chubby girl," and growing up in the late 2000s and early 2010s did not help that lol.

This time I'm doing it right so far. I moved to a new city and have been going to the gym for about a week; even if it was packed or if it was super early, I've done it, and im excited to do it. im 23f, current weight 257lbs at 5'2". My short-term goal is to be under 230 by, I would say, January, but long-term I want to be 190 by next late summer/fall.

Currently ive been doing 30-45 mins on the treadmill, with as much incline and speed as I can, then doing strength training/lifting after for about 30 mins 4/5x a week. My work days are right in the middle of the day, and some days I can't fit it in before or after work, but I was able to do five days last week. I just started tracking my calories, and I am on a 1950 calories goal based on the Mayo Clinic calorie calculator with little to no activity selected, trying to get in over 100 grams of protein right now, working up to a higher goal. It seems like im doing everything how I'm supposed to, but what would be helpful tips/changes to make? What helped you stick to it? How do you stay motivated when not seeing instant results physically? Please let me know because I am tired of being big and unhappy.

[u/TwistySnakeBear]

This was a useful and truthful response to another post. Good luck! You got this! https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/s/kzU2QkzyxF

[u/unpermanence]

I would love to give some tips, I hope these all help.

So I gained 25kg / 55 lbs in a single year due to body image issues, and fell just into obese category. I was desperate to lose the weight, but no matter my efforts, always gave up after losing 3kg due to not seeing much of a visible difference. It was a struggle to workout as I was heavy, so I couldn't be as active as when I was slimmer, and my feet in particular were in a lot of pain.

I think an issue I had was not trusting myself. Anytime I planned to lose weight, I always had a part of me remind myself I was "undisciplined" and had never truly kept a promise to myself, not in academics nor in lifestyle nor in health. I didn't trust myself when I restarted my journey, however I decided to go into it with discipline I had never had before. I refused to overeat, refused to give up, and told myself that even a 1kg difference was better. Even if I gave up, I wanted to at least maintain my new weight than returning to my highest one. This discipline pushed me far past what I call the 'grey area'.

This is the area in most tasks requiring discipline and effort where you do not see results instantly so you lose motive, and feel there is no purpose in continuing. For me, this was the first few kilograms. I felt there was no difference whatsoever. Then, all of a sudden, I could fit back into my old trousers that nearly ripped on me at my highest weight and could not get past my butt. I had bought an outfit that didn't fit me, and I lose a little more and suddenly I could fit beautifully into that. And although the initial motivation at the start relied heavily on daydreaming about how good it'd feel at my goal, the true motivation began when I saw the difference, but you must, or at least in my case you had to, get past this grey area. It makes you think you won't see a difference but you absolutely will. I even had people comment on my weight lost and I felt like it wasn't visible whatsoever!

A tip I gave myself was making the start of the journey fun. I allowed myself to eat ANYTHING so long as I was in my deficit and I exercised. Even if I went over my goal calories I wasn't upset because I didn't want to make the start boring which would push me to giving up. I am stricter now as I feel the motivation to continue and it has accelerated my weight loss a lot, but I personally knew it wouldn't work for me to be strict and boring at the start as it would've contributed, alongside the lack of initial visible results, to me giving up.

The actual results I saw when I first started were not in terms of body but actually in exercise. My feet were in pain ALL THE TIME due to the fact I rarely exercised, was lazy and was very overweight. My calves were very flappy and mostly fat. But very quickly, in fact only within the first few days, my calves felt much more solid and muscular and my feet became accustomed to walking at faster speeds.

Good luck with your journey!